Why Choose Life Bridge Kids?

We understand that mental health disorders create an enormous strain and can be very debilitating for children and their families. We also believe that each child is unique and special. This conviction governs Life Bridge’s entire approach to treatment and establishes three standards we adhere to:

Exceptional Doctors

Life Bridge Kids employs only board certified clinicians who are trained at highly credentialed institutions. They must also have previous clinical experience that demonstrates their passion for helping children and families.

Direct Care

We choose to be a direct care provider so that we may offer a level of patient care that is 100% focused on our patients and not a third party, such as an insurance provider. Fortunately many insurance companies will reimburse all or a part of your visit via out of network benefits.

Streamlined Patient Experience

We insure there are no long waits or rushed visits. Your time with us should be productive and spent meeting with the doctor. Additionally, our office space is organized so you do not have to exit back through the waiting room, which respects your family’s privacy.

Direct Care vs. Managed Care

Note: the term “managed care” refers to HMO’s, PPO’s, and other insurance provider plans that
provide health insurance benefits.

Conflicts of Interest.
Licensed doctors are required to avoid potential conflicts of
interest. A doctor’s
primary concern should be for their patient’s well being.
Psychiatrists working under the constraints of managed care are sometimes put in the position of having to
choose
between what is in their own best interest and what is in their
patient’s best interest. Managed care
companies were created to “manage” and contain escalating health care
costs. Their bottom line is to
reduce costs and raise profits; it is not to increase the quality of
care for patients
.

Professional Expertise.
We believe that patients should be able to access the full range of mental health
professionals according to their needs. Sometimes managed care companies restrict the professionals that
patients are allowed to work with – preferring to refer patients to other behavioral health professionals
who have a record of providing short term therapy rather than to other clinicians who may provide better
results or offer a different treatment.

Contractual Limitations.
We believe patients have the right to full disclosure of any arrangements,
agreements, contracts, or restrictions between any third party and the doctor that could interfere with or
impact treatment. Managed care companies may label a doctor’s choice to advocate for her patients in
this manner as “Managed Care Unfriendly Behaviors” and take such actions as they deem fit. Typically
“violations” such as these result in the doctor being removed from provider panels or censured in other
ways
.

Restricted Choice.
Often managed care companies restrict the patient’s choice of doctor by offering
only short term or brief visits. Because of this, it is more difficult to create solutions to individual
treatment plans. These restrictive visits meet the financial criteria of managed care companies but may
fail to afford patients the opportunity to get the medical outcomes they seek. Naturally this can result
in the possibility of patient’s needs going unmet. Managed care companies often choose to limit what
therapy or medications are offered, can restrict what is discussed in therapy, and decide which patients
can be seen and for how long. Some managed care companies have even included “gag clauses” in their
contracts to prevent doctors from suggesting more effective treatments
.

Privacy & Confidentiality.
By contracting with managed care companies, patients may be required
to share deeply personal information with gatekeepers and utilization review professionals and it would
mean potentially allowing hundreds of other to have access to sensitive personal information.

Medication.
Psychiatrists have a financial motivation to prescribe medication, within the managed care
environment. In some cases, therapy may be the ideal course of treatment but result in little to no financial
reimbursement. While most clinicians have high ethics, we choose to eliminate this conflict of interest in
order to focus solely on what is best for the patient.

Time.
Managed care companies usually require doctors to justify and convince utilization review
professionals before treatment is approved and/or continued. This is time consuming for the doctor and
patient who is required to continue his/her therapy in “fits and starts.”

Diagnosis and Stigma.
Managed care companies typically cover only those services deemed medically
necessary which is defined as being about life and death and the treatment of illness. This means that they
require a diagnosis of mental illness for patients.